Apple will release a laptop that uses flash memory at some point, while soothsayers suggest Santa Rosa Apple laptop update could be 'imminent'.

Speaking on his regular podcast, Calacanis claimed to have information from a "well-placed source" that confirms the plans.

Reports claiming the release of such an Apple notebook have been circulating for months now, while Intel's recent release to manufacturers of its new 'Santa Rosa' laptop processor has added more fuel to these flames.

Santa Rosa implements support for solid-state memory in a way which can be deployed to boost laptop start-up times and battery life.

PCs employing the new processor architecture are already available in some territories.

Santa Rosa chips offer longer battery life and faster Core 2 Duo processors, alongside support for the draft version of 802.11n wireless networking and a Turbo Memory feature that supplements the standard hard drive with NAND flash for faster booting.

This rumour emerges as the Mac web clamour claims new Apple laptops could be 'imminent', but these new Macs may not deploy the Santa Rosa processor.